Stay Out! Stay Alive!
Near MissesIncidents that could have resulted in a fatality, but did not.

03/12/2006A driver and passenger on a Suzuki Samurai OHV, who traveled off-road in a designated'limited use area' on public lands in the California Desert's eastern Imperial County, fell down an abandoned vertical mineshaft, and spent 20 hours in the shaft before they were rescued. The driver suffered a possible broken arm; his passenger was unharmed. The accident apparently occurred Sunday; a search and rescue was initiated Sunday night when the two men failed to return to their camp as expected. The Bureau of Land Management received a call at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and a geologist and ranger responded. The driver and passenger were extracted, but BLM's El Centro Field Office rangers had to arrange a crane to lift out the Suzuki. (Source: Bureau of Land Management)